What is the meta description and how to optimize it to bring more traffic to your website?

What is the meta description?

The Meta Description is an HTML tag that we use as a small description of the content of a page. This description will appear below the URL and title of the page within the snippet displayed by a search engine in its list of results.

The content of this tag must be interesting and relevant to effectively capture the attention of users and stand out from the rest of the Google SERP results.

The ideal meta description extension for Google should not exceed 155 characters, since, if it does, the text will be cut off and will not be displayed in its entirety, reducing its effectiveness. But, it is not good that it has less than 120 characters, because our result in the SERPs loses size and visibility.

What is the difference between a meta description and a meta title?

They are complementary elements and must be designed together. But, if we focus on its definitions, the title is responsible for very briefly presenting the theme of the page and the meta description is an explanatory complement that allows you to further expand that information.

One of its main differences is the length, while a meta title must have an average of 40 to 60 characters (a maximum of 580 px), a meta description must have a length of 120 to 155 characters (a maximum of 920 px). px) .

Both the title and the meta description are key factors in SEO On Page . Although the first is the most important of the two, both jointly fulfill the function of attracting and convincing the user to click on our result.

Working together these two tags can considerably increase the CTR (Click Through Rate) of the pages of your website.

As I already mentioned, adding them to the URL, the union of these two elements gives life to the snippet or result box that Google shows in the SERP.

Each one is written as follows in the HTML code:

Meta title or SEO title: <title>SEO guides from 0 to 100 | José Facchin's Blog</title>

Meta description: <meta name=”description” content=”With these SEO guides, learn the most advanced on- and off-page techniques and the local and international positioning strategies that your business needs”>

snippet example

Why is it important to write a good meta description?

If you really want to focus on the organic ranking of your website, you better start spending more time on this meta tag.

You must take advantage of this small space to sell the content of your website through an attractive message for users.

Tips for writing a compelling meta description

It is essential to use natural language and not repeatedly place keywords in the message of the description.

Otherwise, you could lower the CTR and in many cases you will lose the user's attention.

It is advisable to add a keyword in the text so that search engines contribute to web positioning.

In general, when referring to an optimized meta description, it complies with the elements of the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) method .

Examples of good and bad practices when writing the meta description

» Example of correct meta description

In the following description we can see that the phrase “ Fashion Accessories ” meets the attention element because it exactly responds to the user's query.

Then "shows you the accessories and fashion accessories" sparks interest .

Later, it manages to encourage desire by indicating various products (accessories, shoes, bags and jewelry).

Finally, it invites you to "set the trend" being this phrase the one that invites the user to click, to take action .

Example meta description

» Optimized meta description example

Other examples of properly written and optimized meta descriptions are:

Optimized meta description example

This description offers us everything that a user looking for accommodation needs: quick and concise information on the best areas near the beach and, furthermore, at a low price.

With the main keyword both in the SEO title and in the meta description to support the ranking in the SERPs.

» Example of an aspirational description

Meta description with Keyword

We see that it invites users to enter the website to learn about the best sports cars. It causes interest by informing you about the characteristics of the automobiles and its desire , assuring you that, with one of its automobiles, you will be able to get where you always dreamed of.

» Example of poor wording of the meta description

On the other hand, when a description is poorly written or optimized, with the wrong length or repetitively using keywords to fill the content, it ends up deep in Google results:

Badly worded meta tag example

Here we can see ellipses in the description, without much meaning in the text and with an incomplete title. This snippet is an example of poorly crafted text of low quality and of little use to users.

» Example of bad practice: keyword stuffing in the meta description

Description with keyword stuffing

Another example of the bad practices that a content creator can commit. In this description it is easy to detect the large number of keywords used to try to position yourself in a good position, but the effect obtained is the opposite.

What is the meta description for?

In summary, optimizing this tag allows:

Know at a glance what the content is about .

Attract the attention of users so that they access the content.

It is not a key SEO positioning factor , but it does help attract attention so that they click, supporting the increase in the click rate.

How to write a perfect meta description to increase the number of clicks?

Now that you know the importance of this tag, it's time for you to create one for your website. It is essential to comply with certain essential parameters if you want Google to recognize the value of your content, these parameters are:

1. Ideal length

Mainly, we must be clear about the message that the description of our page will transmit.

In this way we can create a short message that does not exceed 155 characters with the ability to capture the attention of users .

Keep in mind that the length is a crucial parameter, if you exceed the limit, the Google bots will not properly detect the content and the remaining part will simply be ignored.

Therefore, writing texts between 130 to 155 characters is ideal , so you ensure that users read the entire message and avoid possible errors on mobile devices.

Generally , a maximum of 2 sentences are used , which concisely Photo Editing Services explain the content of the website.

ideal length description

Take a look at this example, this text is 154 characters long. Therefore, you must be extremely careful when writing this section.

2. Include the main keyword

Although the meta description does not contribute directly to SEO positioning , placing the main keyword within the message gives us visibility . Preferably it should be placed at the beginning of the text.

If a user uses that keyword in their search, it will appear in bold and it is very likely that they will end up accessing your web page.

For example, if we use the keyword “meta description wordpress” the keyword will automatically appear in bold in its description.